14 DAY TRIAL // Apple is getting ready for the biggest music event of the fall. The 30 Nights of Music will commence September 1, and the final lineup is still not announced. However, new names have been added last night. Apple has also added a new iTunes page for the event and it heavily promotes the new artists in the app. They've also released the Apple TV app.
The iTunes editors are announcing the new artists via their twitter account. Apple's has signed deals with 19 new singers and bands: Mary J. Blige, deadmau5, Tony Bennett, Ed Sheeran, Nick Gardner, Rae Morris, Ben Howard, Nicola Benedetti, James Bay, Placebo, Foy Vance, Wolf Alice, Alison Balsom, Lisa Hannigan, Miloš, Little Dragon, Jessie J, Nick Mulvey and Hozier.
The total went up to 40 names, but more than 20 will be announced in the following week. Apple usually leaves the first and the last artists to be unveiled just before September 1, as they are the biggest names in the music business.
The desktop iTunes Store now has a prominent banner that links to the iTunes festival page. There's a countdown that shows the time till the first performance, links to the Twitter and Facebook accounts, news about the shows and each artist, and a link to the Apple TV promotion. Apple still runs the "Buy an Apple TV and get a $25 iTunes Gift Card" deal.
There's also a new Lineup page in iTunes. Apple has posted pictures and schedules for each band. They link to a special page created for each artist that shows a little bit of info, all albums, songs ordered by bestsellers, music videos, movies, and movies or documentaries where they have been featured or appear on the Soundtrack.
The "About the Festival" Page brings a new section called Photos where you will find some of the best shots taken throughout the years. In the "Festival History" section, you will find the defining moments of this show and some exclusive video content.
The new Apple TV app showed up today. There are three main sections: Featured, Lineup and About. Right below that you will find a few artists highlighted by the iTunes team: Pharrell Williams, Maroon 5, David Guetta, Ed Sheeran, The Script and Calvin Harris. Clicking on any of them will take to a simple page that shows a description of the artist and has a link to all his albums. The same is available for the Lineup section.
Interestingly enough, the Apple TV does not let the users play any content on Apple TV, but you can listen to the 1:30-minute preview on the computer, iPhone or iPad.